Love Yourself: The Brand is the Message

Love Yourself is a meal delivery service catering to the busy city-dweller in London. No matter our dietary preferences, from keto to vegetarian, anyone can enjoy restaurant-quality food made with 100% real ingredients, no additives, and every calorie carefully accounted for.

“Most people are just like you and me, normal people. We want to be healthier, but we also enjoy tasty food and convenience.” For Wojtek Kolan, CEO and co-founder of the Love Yourself diet, those were the people they set out to serve. From a small kitchen space, they’ve expanded to serve delicious meals to a thousand people every day, with more coming.

Here’s the story of how they transformed themselves from a catering company to a lifestyle brand, with a thriving community and a universal message: Love Yourself.

• “Dieting Doesn’t have to be Boring” - How Love Yourself got Started
• Love Yourself: More than a food company, also a source of wellness news
• Going Global - One Meal At the Time

“Dieting Doesn’t have to be Boring”

“If you look at the food options on the High Street, most are fast food franchises. Even the so-called healthier options tend to contain plenty of salt and preservatives,” Wojtek points out.

But eating healthy isn’t so easy either. Not everybody can cook, or devote time to measuring and counting calories. And there’s a big reason why diets don’t last: “When people go on a diet, they eat boring food, or the same food every day. Our goal is to make healthy, delicious food you will want to eat every day."

Four friends set out to solve this problem with Love Yourself. Wojtek handled the eCommerce and business aspect while Michal Snela, who had worked in many Michelin-starred restaurants, became Head Chef.

The two of them started in a small kitchen space in West London in 2018. By early 2020, they were reaching maximum capacity, with a hundred extremely loyal customers who ordered almost every day.

“If you eat right, you feel better,” Wojtek remarks with a touch of pride. “That’s the beauty of the Love Yourself Diet.

“Customers were telling us they had better health, less illness, and better skin and hair. Once you start, you can feel the difference. “

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx1HCl7qv8s

During the Covid-19 period, the business reached another level. Demand increased by four times as people in lockdown explored meal delivery options. Meanwhile, they secured private funding and were able to expand to kitchen space with twenty times the capacity.

But for Wojtek, the real breakthrough was when he changed the way he thought about the company.

Love Yourself: More than a food company

At the start, it was difficult for Wojtek to discover new customers. Due to extreme competition in the meal delivery space, Google and Facebook ads were extremely expensive. As a new brand, Love Yourself was having limited success with ads.

“The aha moment came when we stopped thinking of ourselves as a catering company, but as a lifestyle company, trying to make people happier and healthier, with advice about health and wellness.

“People order from us because we have become a trusted information provider.”

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The shift in mindset changed how the brand communicated with customers. Wojtek focused more on creating lifestyle content and sharing the message of Love Yourself. He created a closed Facebook community for loyal fans to support each other and share their successes.

Suddenly, something clicked. The ads started to show success, and Wojtek took out a bank loan to double down on customer acquisition. That helped Love Yourself breakthrough to a new audience, beyond its early customers, opening up a whole new market.

Another aha moment was when Wojtek started working with a detailed business plan. “All the success of the company came when we started digging into the data,” focusing on metrics like Customer Acquisition Costs and Customer Lifetime Value. He began experimenting with many growth hacking tactics.

One successful tactic was the Love Yourself Transformation challenge that saw 25 customers competing for a £500 cash prize over 8 weeks. Anybody can sign up for the challenge, and as they post pictures of their body transformation, Love Yourself gets extra social media buzz and social proof that the diet works.

Another growth hacking tactic that worked was using referrals to drive new customer acquisition, which makes up almost 10% of customers. “That’s why we’re getting the referrals in, because of the community and the message of the brand.”

Read More: Love Yourself Referral Program Case Study:
How Wojtek & team used their referral program to generate over £100,000 in referral sales and enroll thousands of customers.

Going Global - One Meal At the Time

2020 has been a good year for Love Yourself. The business has surpassed all forecasts for the year. But before expanding into different countries, Wojtek sees plenty of room to expand in London - even in a crowded market with many competitors.

“We have a massive advantage. Other [meal delivery] brands tend to focus on gym fitness - lots of protein, catered to someone who’s going to the gym every day.

“What we want is for people to eat our food every day of their lives - and they don’t want to go to a restaurant because our food is so tasty.”

Wojtek shared that one of the most difficult challenges is refining the menu of meals. “Everyone has a different taste palette.” It’s difficult to cater not only to the six different dietary options but also to find a balance of flavors and sweetness that appeals to everyone.

That’s why the Wojtek is excited to launch the ‘Round the World diet’. “We want to offer different cuisine every day of the week. You can start the week with an authentic Japanese breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then Indian one day and Indonesian the next.

“Our goal is to let you experience the world’s cuisines in the comfort of your own home.”

For the brand with a message, Love Yourself has plenty of room to grow.

Love Yourself:

• Love Yourself Website
• Instagram: @loveyourselfHQ
• Facebook Page
• Blog: Content & News
• What Customers Say:
• Trustpilot
• FB Page: Balance by Hayley
• Instagram Micro-Influencers: @georgiaeats_, @martabarczok.official
• Blogs: JabbaReviews
• Review in The American magazine

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